U.S. Department of Labor Freedom of Information Act Annual Report for Fiscal Year 1999

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABORFREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORTFOR FISCAL YEAR 1999

October 1, 1998 through September 30, 1999

The Department received a total of 20,135 initial requests for records. The majority of these requests were received by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) which received 11,119 requests. The Employment Standards Administration (ESA) received 6,547 requests.

You may obtain a paper copy of this report by writing to Ms. Miller at the above address.

How to Make a FOIA Request

The Department of Labor is organized into divisions and agencies often referred to as "components". Within the Labor Department, each component processes its own FOIA requests. Therefore, a request will receive the quickest possible response if it is addressed directly to the disclosure officer for the component that a requester believes has the records.

The following list contains the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the individual agency components and offices, in the national office. Unless otherwise specified, the mailing address for the following national office components is as follows:

The President's Committee on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities, tel. (202) 376-6200, ext. 12.

The heads of the foregoing agencies shall make available for inspection and copying in accordance with the provisions of the FOIA, records in their custody or in the custody of component units within their organizations, either directly or through their authorized representative in particular offices and locations.

The addresses, and telephone numbers for the various Department's regional offices are presented below. The telephone number which is listed reaches the Department's Office of Administration and Management (OASAM) for that region. That office can provide the requester with a more specific telephone number for the respective component agency. Unless otherwise specified, the mailing address for these regional offices by region, shall be:

U.S. Department of Labor1111 Third AvenueSeattle, Washington 98101-3212Telephone (415) 975-4057

(For Wage and Hour only: Contact Region IX)

Agency response-time.

The agency's response-time ranges from five to fifty days. Complex requests take more time.

Why some requests are not granted.

A FOIA request can be made for any agency record. This does not mean, however, that the Labor Department will disclose every record sought. There are statutory exemptions that authorize the withholding of information of an appropriately sensitive nature. The agency also cannot comply with a FOIA request if there are no records.

Another reason for not responding to a FOIA request is that the FOIA does not require agencies to do research for the requester, to analyze data, to answer questions, or to create records in order to respond to a request.

Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report (To be included in each report)

Agency-specific acronyms or other terms

None

Basic terms, expressed in common terminology.

FOIA/PA request - Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act request. A FOIA request is generally a request for access to records concerning a third party, an organization, or a particular topic of interest. A Privacy Act request is a request for records concerning oneself; such requests are also treated as FOIA requests. (All requests for access to records, regardless of which law is cited by the requester, are included in this report.)

Initial Request - a request to a federal agency for access to records under the Freedom of Information Act.

Appeal - a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher administrative level a full denial or partial denial of access to records under the Freedom of Information Act, or any other FOIA determination such as a matter pertaining to fees.

Processed Request or Appeal - a request or appeal for which an agency has taken a final action on the request or the appeal in all respects.

Multi-track processing - a system in which simple requests requiring relatively minimal review are placed in one processing track and more voluminous and complex requests are placed in one or more other tracks. Requests in each track are processed on a first-in/first-out basis. A requester who has an urgent need for records may request expedited processing (see below).

Expedited processing - an agency will process a FOIA request on an expedited basis when a requester has shown an exceptional need or urgency for the records which warrants prioritization of his or her request over other requests that were made earlier.

Simple request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-tracking processing places in its fastest (non expedited) track based on the volume and/or simplicity of records requested.

Complex request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in a slower track based on the volume and/or complexity of records requested.

Grant - an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.

Partial grant - an agency decision to disclose a record in part in response to a FOIA request, deleting information determined to be exempt under one or more of the FOIA's exemptions; or a decision to disclose some records in their entireties, but to withhold others in whole or in part.

Denial - an agency decision not to release any part of a record or records in response to a FOIA request because all the information in the requested record is determined by the agency to be exempt under one or more of the FOIA's exemptions, or for some procedural reason (such as because no record is located in response to a FOIA request).

Time limits - the time period in the Freedom of Information Act for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily 20 working days from proper receipt of a "perfected" FOIA request).

"Perfected" request - a FOIA request for records which adequately describes the records sought, which has been received by the FOIA office of the agency or agency component in possession of the records, and for which there is no remaining question about the payment of applicable fees.

Exemption 3 statute - a separate federal statute prohibiting the disclosure of a certain type of information and authorizing its withholding under FOIA subsection (b)(3).

Median number - the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3,7, and 14, the median number is 7.

Average number - the number obtained by dividing the sum of a group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average is 8.

List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by this agency during fiscal year 1999.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration withheld the names of complainants who reported safety and health violations under the authority of section 8(f)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), 29 U.S.C. 657(f)(1). It also withheld the disclosure of advance notice of a safety inspection under the authority of section 17(f) of the same statute, 29 U.S.C. 666(f).

The Office of Labor-Management Standards invoked section 304(a) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA) (29 U.S.C. 464(a)) to protect the identities of complainants in Title III, LMRDA investigations. This office also withheld grand jury material pursuant to Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration withheld the names of miners, pursuant to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, section 103(g)(1)(30 U.S.C.813(g)(1)), who requested safety inspections. It also withheld information to protect the confidentiality of coal mine maps pursuant to section 312(b) of the statute (30 U.S.C. 872(b)).

The Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration withheld documents pursuant to section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 6103) which prohibits the release of information contained in an income tax return. It also withheld grand jury material pursuant to Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

The statutes, cited above, have not, as yet, been litigated in the courts under the FOIA.

Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests

Number of initial requests.

Number of requests pending as of the end of the preceding fiscal year which was fiscal year 1998: 994

Number of requests received during fiscal year 1999: 20,135

Number of requests processed during fiscal year 1999: 20,187

Number of requests pending as of the end of fiscal year 1999: 942

Disposition of initial requests.

Number of total grants: 8,519

Number of partial grants: 4,784

Number of denials: 6,884

number of time each FOIA exemption was used (counting each exemption once per request)